Australian technology startup Gridcognition has announced a partnership with their first UK-based customer, expanding their modelling and optimisation capabilities to the UK energy market.
SNRG will be using the Gridcognition simulation platform to design and optimise microgrids for fully electric residential housing developments, a trend that’s gaining significant momentum in response to ambitious climate targets put in place by the UK government.
The partnership will allow SNRG to simulate a range of different physical and commercial options for the design of these microgrids, assessing the impact of distributed energy assets such as solar, battery storage, electric vehicle charging and load flexibility to create housing developments that deliver the best possible outcomes for house builders, residents, and the environment.
Recent UK policy announcements see a world-first change in rules for new housing to mandate electric vehicle charging infrastructure and prevent residential gas boilers; and ban internal combustion engine vehicle sales by 2030. SNRG are at the forefront of the electrification and the decarbonisation drive. With additional complexity, and massive shifts in consumption, generation and infrastructure in the market, a new level of modelling sophistication is required to develop solutions that can meet these policy objectives.
Dan Nicholls, Managing Director of SNRG SmartGrids, is a net-zero specialist with over 15 years of experience delivering clean energy products & infrastructure and is spearheading the partnership with Gridcognition. ‘Our work is all about reducing cost, complexity and carbon for all, and the more accurately we can plan and design these projects to deliver that, the better.’ said Dan. ‘Our partnership with Gridcognition allows us to quickly and accurately simulate multiple complex objectives and parameters to identify the optimal technical and operational strategy for our projects.’ SNRG, which is backed by Centrica, one of the largest energy utilities in the UK, collaborates with landowners, developers & residents of all-electric housing projects to implement intelligent microgrids that integrate community solar, storage, and vehicle charging. These fully funded ‘SmartGrid’ solutions offer net zero emissions and a streamlined experience for both developers and residents.
Gridcognition, having recently announced a $998k grant from the Australian federal to accelerate the global expansion of their distributed energy project simulation and optimisation platform, and are participating in the London Tech Week trade mission are thrilled to be able to play their part in an all-electric future for the UK.
With a shared purpose to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to an all-electric future, both companies are excited about the impact of applying this technology to residential housing developments in England.
‘Australia is a great testing ground for the future of energy – operating a wholesale energy market on the east coast, and a capacity market on the west, so is the perfect place to learn what works and then apply those learnings to the UK market.’ Pete Tickler, Co-founder.
Work to adapt the modelling engine to service the UK’s energy environment and enabling the modeling of physical and environmental constraints of the energy system in the United Kingdom is already underway, and these projects will break ground as early as 2022.